Floating tracks



April-23, 63 c. T. JOHNSON Em 3,086,480

FLOATING TRACKS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 9, 1962 INVENTORS April 23, 1963 c. T. JOHNSON ETAL 3,08

FLOATING TRACKS Filed April 9, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 23, 1963 c. T. JOHNSON ETAL 3,086,480

FLOATING TRACKS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 9, 1962 DDDD FIG 4 B86A8 Patented Apr. 23, 1963 FLGATING TRACKS a Carl T. Johnson, John S. Scheurich, and Palmer u.

Werznager, Minneapolis, Minn, assignors, by mesne assignments, to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed Apr. 9, 1962, Ser. No. 186,284 7 Claims. ((31. 104-172) This invention relates generally to a conveyor system, and more particularly it pertains to an engagement mechanism for receiving the supporting shoes of lug supported articles and smoothly bringing them into alignment with the tracks of a tramway.

In modern armament for use in storing, transporting, and launching guided missile weapons, such weapons are normally stored in a ready service mechanism. Each missile weapon stored thereon consists of a missile having a warhead, and a booster for launching and propelling the missile. While in storage in the ready service mechanism, the missile-booster combination may be supported at its forward, middle, and aft portions by saddles on a tra Z Vhen a missile-booster combination is desired for transfer from the ready-service mechanism to the launcher of the guided missile launching system, the missile-booster combination is lifted by a pair of hoists from the readyservice mechanism. Upper, forward and aft booster shoes on the booster of the missile-booster combination are employed for efiectuating transfer of the latter to the launcher. Because of deck deflection which occurs when the ship on which the launching system is installed is underway, shoe alignment with the overhead launcher tramway may occur somewhat imprecisely.

This invention employs short track sections in the launcher rail for receiving forward and aft booster shoes into the rail. These short fore and aft sections of the rail are hingeably maintained and hydraulically controlled for elfectuating smooth cooperation with the hoist of the ready-service mechanism and accurate alignment of the fore and aft booster shoes with the tramway.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism capable of smoothly eifectuating the functioning of an automatic hoist and conveyor transfer operation.

Another object is to provide a hydraulically cushioned track section for an article transfer point on a tramway.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a track section hingeably maintained with respect to other track sections and hydraulically controlled for receiving an article to be conveyed and for smoothly aligning the article with respect to the other track section.

Still another object is to provide a track device of a tramway which absorbs the thrust of a hoisted article, laterally receives the support shoes thereof while in a floating state and smoothly brings itself into seated alignment with the tramway track.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the positioner area of a tramway type loader incorporating features of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a cutaway perspective of a forward floating track piston and track incorporating features of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the floating track piston assembly showing the valves therein in neutral position;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram similar to FIG. 3 showing the action of a check valve in the piston; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram similar to FIG. 3 showing the action of a metering valve in the piston.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views there is shown in FIG. 1 a forward floating track assembly 10 and an aft floating track assembly 12 located at the input end of an overhead chain propelled tramway type loader 14. These floating track assemblies 10 and 12 receive the upper booster shoes 16 and 18 respectively of rocket missile boosters 20 which are raised to the loader 14 by a hoist (not shown). Forward booster shoe 16 has a U-shaped configuration, while aft booster shoe 18 has a T-shaped configuration. Tapered entries 21 and 21' are respectively provided in both the forward and aft floating track assemblies 10 and 12 to receive the upper shoes 16 and 18'of the booster 20 as it is raised.

The forward floating track as well as the loader rails forward thereof have grooves 23 machined lengthwise on the exterior thereof to provide tracks for the U-shaped forward booster shoe 16. The forward floating track and the loader rail forward thereof also have grooves 25 and 27 machined lengthwise on the interior thereof, the larger tracks 25 at the middle, inner side of the rails are for the loader chain 11 and the tracks 27 at the lower, inner side of the rail are for the aft booster shoe 18. The rail segments from the forward floating track to the aft floating track have both the chain tracks 25 and the aft shoe tracks 27, while all rail segments aft of the aft floating track have only the chain tracks 25.

As can be best seen in FIG. 1 a centering probe bracket 29 is mounted on the bottom and aft end of the track. This bracket 29 extends vertically downward and contains a steel block 31 having therein a cylindrical recess 33 for engaging the centering probe 35 of the head of the aft shoe hoist as a' booster 20 is raised upward into engagement with the loader 14.

A loader pawl positioner and its control valve block 22 are mounted on the aft side of the centering probe bracket 29. The end of the pawl positioner piston rod 17 is connected to the middle of a collapsing linkage system that has one end secured to a stationary pivot 15 in the centering probe bracket 29 and the other end secured to a short section of a pivotal chain track 1'3. With the pawl positioner piston 17 retracted and the linkage collapsed the pivotal chain track 13 is aligned horizontally with the loader chain 11 in an unbuckled position. Extension of the piston rod 17 straightens the linkage and rotates the pivotal chain track 13 upward to buckle chain 11.

As the loader chain 11 is held stationary by the chain sprocket 9 the loader pawl system 19 retracts'when the chain is buckled and extends when the chain is unbuckled. The buckling movement positions the chain pawl system 19 in the aft shoe floating track to receive and engage the aft booster shoe 18. The straightening of the pivotal chain track 13 causes a forward motion of the pawl system 1? thereby moving the engaged aft booster shoe 1-8 and the missile-booster combination forward so that the top booster shoes 16 and 13 are engaged in their respective shoe tracks 23 and 27 of floating track assemblies 10 and 12. v f

Deck deflections of the ship on which the guided missile launching system is mounted is capable of causing misalignment of the shoes with the shoe track of the loader 14. Therefore, as the booster 20 is raised the booster shoes 16 and 18 enter recesses 21 and 21' respectively, contact the upper lips of grooves 23 and 27 respectively and move the short track sections 28 and 28 out of alignment with fixed loader 14 until a loader pawl system 19 receives the aft booster shoe 18 from the hoist and moves the booster shoes 16 and 1 8 into tracks 23 and 27 respectively of the floating track assemblies and 12. When the. hoist is then lowered, the track sections 28 of the floating tracks 10 and 12 are returned to their former alignment with the fixed loader 14.

As best seen in FIGLZ, floating track assemblies 10 and 12 each consist of a flanged housing 24, a floating track piston assembly 26, a short track section 28, and a check valve 30 fixed to the side of the housing 24. The housing 24 is secured by its flanges 37 and 39' to the previously mentioned loader 14.

As best seen in FIG. 2, the track section 28 is hingeably attached by means :of a horizontal pin 32 to the piston rod 34 which extends downwardly from the piston assembly 26 of each floating track assembly 10 and 12. The tapered entry 21 in the forward track assembly illustrated in FIG. 2 has, of course, a similar but opposite counterpart on the opposite side of track section 28. As shown in FIG. 1, the recess 21 for the aft booster shoe 18 would occur in flanges 41 which form the lower lip of the aft shoe track 27. Except for this track contour difference for accommodating fore and aft booster shoes16 and 18 which have different configurations, and the fore and aft floating track assemblies 10 and 12 are identical in construction and operation. Only the forward floating track assembly 10 will, therefore, be described more fully. Within the housing 24, the piston assembly 26 consists of a spring loaded differential area piston 36 mechanically and hydraulically operated, as best shown in FIGS. 2 to 5. A compression coil spring 38 is positioned exterior to and around a hollow shaft 40' which is in turn secured to and extends above piston 36. This spring 38 is retained by an annular cover 42 so as to thrust against the piston 36 urging it against surface 43 of retainer 44 at the lower end of housing 24. 7

Pressure is supplied from the external hydraulic systern through check valve 30 which is secured over a fluid supply port 46. This fluid pressure acts against both the upper and lower sides of piston 36 and since the upper side of piston 36 is of larger effective area than the lower side it tends to remain extended downwardly. The bydraulic system also employs a pair of valves for controlling the hydraulic movement of piston 36. These valves are a spring loaded metering valves 48 and a spring loaded check valve 50 which are concentrically mounted within the hollow shaft of piston 36.

,The operating cycle of the piston assembly 26 can be best seen by reference to FIGS. 3 to 5. At the start of an operating cycle the piston assembly 26 is in a neutral position as schematically depicted in FIG. 3. When, however, a hoist shoves a booster shoe 16 into the recess 21 of floating track 28, the piston 36 is forced upwardly by its piston rod 34. Since this action causes a decrease in volume above piston L36 the hydraulic fluid above piston 36 flows through an orifice 52, as best seen in FIG. 4, and check valve 50 is moved in a downward direction. Hydraulic fluid flows through the resulting orifice 54 to the base of a metering valve 48 and through an orifice 56 to the small area lower side of piston 36. Excess fluid above piston 36 is allowed to escape through the check valve 30 and is absorbed by the external hydraulic system attached to the accumulator (PA).

When the hoist with a booster 20 is up and latched, the pressure within the piston assembly 26 stabilizes again and the valve 50 is reseated as in FIG. 3 by spring pressure. The. spring 38 above piston 36 and the greater force on the upper side thereof keeps a downward force on the piston rod34 and upon the booster shoe 16 Within the floating track section 28.

When the pawl system 19 in response to the straightening of the pivotal chain track 13 slides the booster shoe '16 forward into the groove 23 of track section 28 the hoist is lowered. Then piston 36 moves smoothly downward as shown in FIG. 5 into contact with surface 43 of 4 retainer 44. The floating track section 28 is now aligned with the rails of loader 14.

The downward motion of piston 36 is restrained by the restriction of hydraulic fluid flow through the orifice 54 of check valve 50 as shown in FIG. 5 and hydraulic fluid is then replaced above piston 36 from below piston 36 and through check valve 30 in preparation for another cycle of operation. The specific function of metering valve 48 is to limit the velocity of piston 36 in an upward direction in the event of shock loading after the rail is loaded. Thus, as is illustrated by the action of metering valve 48 in FIG. 5, the sudden build-up of hydraulic pressure in the event of shock loading causes metering valve 48 to move downward relative to piston 36 restricting orifice 56 which in turn restricts the passage of hydraulic fluid and limits the velocity of the piston 36.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is, therefore, to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An alignment system for aligning an article having handling means thereon with a track system comprising track means for receiving the handling means of said article, hydraulic control means resiliently supporting said track means for absorbing handling shocks and aligning said handling means with said track system, and means for hingeably connecting said hydraulic control means with said track means whereby when said track means in receiving said handling means are misaligned with said track system said hydraulic control means realigns said track means with said track system.

2. An alignment system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said hydraulic control means comprises, a cylinder, piston means having large upper surfaces for hydraulic control and small lower surfaces for hydraulic control movably retained within said cylinder and defining therewith a lower volume below said piston means and an upper volume above said piston means; biasing means for urging said piston means downward; a first valve means for first porting hydraulic fluid from said upper surfaces to said lower surfaces when said lower volume is increased as the upper volume is decreased in response to upward movement of said piston means, and second for metering hydraulic fluid from said lower volume to said upper volume in response to downward movement of said piston means; and second valve means for metering hydraulic fluid to limit the velocity of said piston means in the event of shock loading whereby said track means are smoothly and accurately aligned with said track system.

3. An alignment system as claimed in claim 2 wherein said first and second valve means are spring biased against said piston means.

4. An alignment system as claimed in claim 3 wherein said means for hingeably connecting said'hydraulic control means to said track means comprises a piston rod connected to said piston means, pin means extending transversely of and through said track means and through said .piston rod means.

5. An alignment system as claimed in claim 4 wherein said track system comprises a conveyor rail having a first track for a first of said handling means, a second track for a second of said handling means, and a third track for a chain which engages said second handling means for conveyance on said track system.

6. An alignment system as claimed in claim 5 wherein said track means comprises a first short track section for engaging said first handling means and having said first,

7. A conveyor track system for conveying a weapon having first and second handling attachments thereon along said track system comprising a first short track section for engaging the first weapon handling attachment, said first track section having a first track therein for movement therein of said first weapon handling attachment, at second track for movement therein of a second weapon handling attachment, and a third track for movement therein of a chain which engages for weapon movement said second weapon handling attachment; a first hydraulic control means supporting said first track section and having a first piston having a large upper surface area and a small lower surface area, first spring means for downwardly biasing said first piston, a first check valve being spring biased against said first piston for porting hydraulic fluid from said upper surface area to said lower surface area of said first piston when said first piston is driven upwardly and for metering said fluid from said lower surface to said upper surface when said piston is driven downwardly, and a first metering valve being spring biased against said first piston for metering said fluid to limit the velocity of said first piston in the event of shock loading; a first piston rod integrally attached to said first piston; a first pin extending transversely of said first short track section through said first piston rod and said first short track section; a second short track section for engaging the second weapon handling attachment having said second and third tracks for weapon movement therein; a second hydraulic means supporting said second track section and having a second piston having a large upper surface area and a small lower surface area, second spring means for downwardly biasing said second piston, a second check valve being spring biased against said second piston for porting hydraulic fluid from said upper surface area to said lower surface area of said second piston when said second piston moves upwardly and for metering said fluid from said lower surface area to said upper surface area when said second piston moves downwardly, and a second metering valve spring biased against said second piston for metering said fluid to limit the velocity of said second piston in the event of shock load ing; a second piston rod integrally connected to said second piston; and a second pin extending transversely of said second short track section through a tongue and groove hinge of said second piston rod and said second short track section whereby said weapon first and second handling attachments are received and misalign said first and second short track sections and said first and second hydraulic control means act to smoothly and accurately re-align said short track sections with the remainder of said track system.

Larson et al. July 28, 1936 Carl'berg et al. May 23, 1961 

1. AN ALIGNMENT SYSTEM FOR ALIGNING AN ARTICLE HAVING HANDLING MEANS THEREON WITH A TRACK SYSTEM COMPRISING TRACK MEANS FOR RECEIVING THE HANDLING MEANS OF SAID ARTICLE, HYDRAULIC CONTROL MEANS RESILIENTLY SUPPORTING SAID TRACK MEANS FOR ABSORBING HANDLING SHOCKS AND ALIGNING SAID HANDLING MEANS WITH SAID TRACK SYSTEM, AND MEANS FOR HINGEABLY CONNECTING SAID HYDRAULIC CONTROL MEANS WITH SAID TRACK MEANS WHEREBY WHEN SAID TRACK MEANS IN RECEIVING SAID HANDLING MEANS ARE MISALIGNED WITH SAID TRACK SYSTEM SAID HYDRAULIC CONTROL MEANS REALIGNS SAID TRACK MEANS WITH SAID TRACK SYSTEM. 